1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to dispensing containers for magnetizable articles such as paper clips, hair pins, and pins and, in particular, to a container for dispensing the magnetizable articles and suspending the dispensed articles in magnetic field.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various dispensers are available for small articles. Examples include containers having an opening and a ring magnet or a bar magnet for holding one or more magnetizable articles at the opening, as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,835 issued June 28, 1971 to Shore and U.S. Pat. No. 3,750,858 issued Aug. 7, 1973 to Cooper.
Dispensers also are available which use an inner rotatable cylinder or cylinder segment to dispense articles through a slot in an outer cylinder. The dispensed articles may be held in a trough, as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 1,613,622 issued Jan. 11, 1927 to O'Malley, or by U.S. Pat. No. 1,703,352 issued Feb. 26, 1969 to Moore. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 1,111,946, issued Sept. 29, 1914 to Byrd, utilizes a cylindrical receptacle having sloping inner walls for delivering magnetizable articles to openings in the receptacle and a magnet at each of the receptacles for holding the articles.
Thus, various containers and dispensers are available which facilitate the use of small magnetizable articles. However, access to the dispensed article typically is impeded by the relatively small dimensions of the dispenser opening and/or by the physical retention of the article against the dispenser opening, trough, magnet or the like.